Appel, retired chairman of the University of Alaska Department of Art, is one of 11 2013 alumni award winners. He was honored at an April 26 ceremony hosted by the Minnesota State Mankato Alumni Association.

Alumni Achievement Awards go to graduates who have achieved high rank or honor in their professions and have had a major impact on their communities.

Appel graduated from Minnesota State Mankato in 1956 with a bachelor of art degree in art and biology. In 1959, he received a bachelor of science degree in art and biology. In 1962, he received a master’s degree in art.

He spent 10 years teaching in the Department of Art at the University of Alaska Anchorage, first as professor, then as chair. His work has been included in over 200 exhibits and has been accepted into an exhibit by the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery of contemporary American artists. Appel has worked in a variety of mediums, including painting, ceramics, sculpture with metals, fabrics and LED lights.

Appel has also been involved in the community. He worked with the Alaska State Art Council to take his “art idea box,” which included items that could be used directly by elementary students to engage their imaginations without much input from teachers, throughout the state. The art idea box proved to be a handy item in the rural communities of Alaska and grew into “The Artist in the Schools Program.”